Charlie Ward, Jr. (born October 12, 1970) is a retired American professional NBA basketball player, college football Heisman Trophy winner, Davey O'Brien Award winner and a Major League Baseball draftee. Ward is considered one of the best all-around athletes in the last quarter century.^[1] He was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame with Emmitt Smith and Bobby Bowden in 2006.

College career[link]

Ward won the 1993 Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, and Davey O'Brien Award as a quarterback for Florida State University, and subsequently led the Seminoles to their first-ever National Championship when FSU defeated Nebraska 18–16 in the 1993 Orange Bowl. The Seminoles had suffered their only defeat of the season to a second-ranked Notre Dame team, but their path to the National Championship was cleared a week later when the Irish were upset at home by Boston College. Ward holds the second-largest margin of victory in the history of Heisman trophy balloting, with a 1,622 point difference, second only to O.J. Simpson's 1,750 point win in 1968.^[2] He was also the only Heisman winner to play in the NBA. In 1993, Charlie Ward won the James E. Sullivan Award from the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) as the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006.

Though Ward did not play baseball in college, he was drafted as a pitcher by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 59th round of the 1993 free agent draft and in the 18th round by the New York Yankees in 1994. An avid tennis player, Ward also shined in the Arthur Ashe Amateur Tennis Tournament in 1994.

Ward was a model student-athlete at Florida State. As a senior and captain of the team in 1993, he voluntarily approached Seminoles head coach Bobby Bowden about a difficult situation surrounding incoming freshman Warrick Dunn, whose mother, policewoman Betty Smothers, was killed in the line of duty during Dunn's senior year of high school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Charlie served as a surrogate big brother to Dunn during the latter's first year in Tallahassee, helping him through a trying time by becoming his roommate and friend.

Ward also played basketball for four years at Florida State University (FSU). Former teammates included future NBA players Bob Sura, Doug Edwards and Sam Cassell. His 1993 team made it to the Southeast Regional Final where they lost to Kentucky 106–81 with the winner advancing to the Final Four. Ward's 1992 team made the Sweet Sixteen. He made the game-winning shot in its Metro Conference Tournament Championship game win over Louisville in 1991. Ward still holds FSU basketball records for career steals at 236, steals in one game at 9 and still ranks sixth all-time in assists at 396. He played a shortened season his senior year, joining the basketball team just 15 days after winning the Heisman Trophy. He started 16 games at the point guard position that year, and averaged a college career high of 10.5 points and 4.9 assists for the season.

In his senior year at Florida State, he also served as Student Government Vice-President, after he was asked to run by the Monarchy Party, a student government reform organization.

Statistics[link]

Professional career[link]

Upon graduation, Ward stated he was undecided about professional basketball or football and made it clear that he would not consider playing in the NFL unless selected in the first round of the 1994 NFL Draft. Ward proclaimed that he "deserved to" be a first rounder.^[3] Ward’s mother reported that the family was told he "was probably a third-to fifth-round pick."^[4] Because teams did not want to waste a first round pick on a player that might eventually choose the NBA, and because of his smaller stature, Ward was not selected in the 1st round of the NFL Draft. Instead of pursuing a career as a football player in the NFL, and having been chosen in the 1st round (26th overall) of the 1994 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks, he began his career in the NBA as a point guard. An inquiry was made during Ward's rookie year with the Knicks to become the backup quarterback for Joe Montana of the Kansas City Chiefs, but Ward declined.

Ward played sparingly in his rookie year under head coach Pat Riley, but the Knicks organization referred to him as "the point guard of the future." When assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy took over the head coaching position, Ward's time on the floor began to increase, becoming the primary backup for point guard Derek Harper. He became a fan favorite in New York for his hard work ethic and unselfish play. During his NBA career, Ward established himself as a good three-point shooter, a reliable ball distributor, and a respected floor leader. Ward was selected to participate in the 1998 NBA All-Star three-point competition, finishing fourth in the event. He soon helped the Knicks reach the 1999 NBA Finals before falling to the San Antonio Spurs. Ward was traded to the Phoenix Suns in February 2004 as part of the blockbuster trade that brought Stephon Marbury to the Knicks and was promptly cut by the Suns for salary purposes. Ward spent the remainder of the season with the Spurs and signed a contract with the Houston Rockets the following summer. After maintaining relatively good health over his first decade in the league, injuries caused Ward to miss most of the 2004–05 season. Because of his injuries Ward retired.

Off the court, Ward is known for his extensive charitable work through groups like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. In 2011, at the NCAA Final Four, Ward received the John Wooden Keys to Life award given for continued excellence and integrity on and off the court.

Ward established The aWard Foundation to enhance the lives of young people through sports based mentoring and educational programs^[5]

Controversy[link]

In Game 5 of the 1997 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Miami Heat, with the Knicks holding a 3–1 series lead, Ward appeared to intentionally take out P.J. Brown when he dove towards his legs after a loose ball. Brown retaliated by lifting Ward up and body-slamming him. This caused a bench-clearing brawl to ensue. After Miami won the game 96–81, Patrick Ewing, John Starks and Larry Johnson, Allan Houston, and Ward himself, were suspended by the NBA. Ewing, Houston, Johnson, and Starks left the bench during the brawl, which was why they got suspended. Brown was suspended for the rest of the series; Ewing, Ward and Houston were suspended for Game 6, and Johnson and Starks were suspended for Game 7. Due to the suspensions, the Knicks were shorthanded and lost Games 6 and 7 to Miami 95–90 and 101–90 respectively and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, which they lost to the Chicago Bulls in 5 games.

In 2001, while playing for the Knicks, it was discovered that Ward had made disparaging comments about Jews during a Bible-study session, comments that were eventually leaked to the press. Among the comments made: "Jews are stubborn...tell me, why did they persecute Jesus unless he knew something they didn’t want to accept...They had his blood on their hands."^[6]

Unsurprisingly, there was outrage directed at Ward from Jewish groups, the public, as well as the Knicks organization itself. Ward defended himself by saying "I didn't mean to offend any one group because that's not what I'm about. I have friends that are Jewish. Actually, my friend is a Jewish guy, and his name is Jesus Christ."^[6] He also said the quotes were taken out of context, as he stated that "Jews are stubborn" in speaking to what he perceived to be their disinclination to convert to Christianity.^[7]

Ward eventually apologized for those statements, with his apology being accepted by the Anti-Defamation League.^[8]

Retirement[link]

In June 2007, Ward was hired as an assistant coach for the varsity boys' basketball team by Westbury Christian School in Houston, Texas having passed on many professional sports opportunities. Ward was previously an assistant coach for the Houston Rockets. In addition, Ward, in November 2007, accepted the job as head coach for the varsity football team at Westbury Christian School, stating that his desire is to help prepare young minds for Christ.^[9]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• NBA.com playerfile
• Charlie Ward at the College Football Hall of Fame
• Charlie Ward at the Heisman Trophy

Skip Bayless
Born	John Edward Bayless II (1951-12-04) December 4, 1951 (age 60) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Education	Vanderbilt University
Occupation	Television Sports Commentator (ESPN) commentator, sportswriter, sportswriter
Notable credit(s)	ESPN First Take (see Cold Pizza) 1st and 10
Website
http://www.espnmediazone.com/bios/Talent/SkipBayless-Bio.htm Skip Bayless on ESPN

Skip Bayless (born John Bayless II on December 4, 1951) is a sports journalist and television personality. Bayless regularly appears on ESPN2's ESPN First Take and its afternoon show 1st and 10. Bayless previously wrote regular columns for ESPN.com and its "Page 2" section. He is perhaps best known for his strong opinions and sometimes controversial stances on professional athletes.

Schooling and family[link]

Bayless was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The first child of John and Levita Bayless, he was named John Edward Bayless II on his birth certificate, but his father immediately began calling him Skip or Skipper. The name stuck, and Skip Bayless was never called John by his parents. He eventually had his name legally changed to Skip. His brother is the chef, restaurateur and TV personality Rick Bayless.

Bayless as a junior, along with Jerry Waugh, Jim Hill, and Tony Robinson led Junior Varsity (JV)'s Northwest Classen High School basketball team. ^[1]

Bayless averaged 1.4 points per game as a senior playing basketball at Northwest Classen High School. ^[2]

Bayless graduated from Northwest Classen High School and Vanderbilt University where he majored in English and History and was a member of Phi Kappa Sigma.

Bayless is a member of the inaugural class of the Vanderbilt Student Media Hall of Fame.^[3]

Writing career[link]

Bayless went directly from Vanderbilt to The Miami Herald, where he wrote sports features for two years before being hired away by the Los Angeles Times. There, he was best known for investigative stories on the Dodgers' clubhouse resentment of "golden boy" Steve Garvey and his celebrity wife Cyndy and on Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom's behind-the-scenes decisions to start different quarterbacks each week (James Harris, Pat Haden or Ron Jaworski). Bayless also won the Eclipse Award for his coverage of Seattle Slew's Triple Crown.

At 25, Bayless was hired by The Dallas Morning News to write its lead sports column, and two years later, the rival Dallas Times Herald hired him away by making him one of the country's highest paid sports columnists—prompting The Wall Street Journal to do a story on the development. Bayless was voted Texas sportswriter of the year three times.

In 1989, Bayless wrote God's Coach, about the rise and fall of Tom Landry's Dallas Cowboys. Following the Cowboys' Super Bowl victory in 1993, Bayless wrote The Boys, which broke the story that coach Jimmy Johnson and owner Jerry Jones were not "best friends" and correctly predicted that Jones would fire Johnson no matter how much success the team had. (Jones fired Johnson after the Cowboys won another Super Bowl the following year.)^{[clarification needed]}

Following a third Cowboys Super Bowl win in four seasons, Bayless wrote the third and final book of his Cowboys trilogy, Hell-Bent: The Crazy Truth About the "Win or Else" Dallas Cowboys. After covering the Cowboys through the 1996 season, Bayless chose to leave Dallas after 17 years and become the lead sports columnist for the Chicago Tribune. In his first year in Chicago, Bayless won the Lisagor Award for excellence in sports column writing and was voted Illinois sportswriter of the year.

Bayless eventually had a highly publicized dispute with the Tribune's executive editor, Ann Marie Lipinski, over limiting all Tribune columns to just 650 or so words. Bayless quit over the policy and was immediately hired by Knight Ridder Corporation to write for its flagship newspaper, the San Jose Mercury News.^[4] While in San Jose, Bayless became a fixture on ESPN's Rome is Burning and in a weekly Sunday Morning SportsCenter debate with Stephen A. Smith, "Old School/Nu Skool." ESPN hired Bayless full-time in 2004 to team with Woody Paige on ESPN2's Cold Pizza and to write columns for ESPN.com. In 2007, Bayless stopped writing columns to concentrate on what is now called ESPN First Take (formerly Cold Pizza) and on ESPN's afternoon show, First and 10.

Radio and television[link]

Skip Bayless has occasionally substituted as host for syndicated radio program The Jim Rome Show. He has also previously contributed to ESPN as a recurring panelist on The Sports Reporters, NFL Prime Monday (now ESPN Monday Night Countdown) in the 1990s, and Jim Rome is Burning. For three years (1998–2001), Bayless was a contributor at major championships for the Golf Channel.

KTCK Sports Radio 1310 "The Ticket"[link]

In 1994 Bayless left his show at KLIF in Dallas to help start the city's first sports talk radio station, KTCK Sports Radio 1310, "The Ticket." For two years Bayless was the primary host on the 6–9 a.m. morning show as "the Ticket" became one of the country's most successful sports stations. Bayless also was an original investor and when the ownership decided to accept a lucrative offer to sell the station, the new owners bought out Bayless' contract. He immediately became a regular on ESPN Radio's first national show, The Fabulous Sports Babe, and later co-hosted a weekend show on ESPN Radio with Larry Beil. He was also a regular on Chet Coppock's show on Sporting News Radio.

[edit] Cold Pizza/ESPN First Take

Bayless is featured in debate segments on what is now known as ESPN First Take (formerly Cold Pizza), and the segments are re-aired as First and 10 in the afternoons. Bayless debates the day's 10 hottest sports topics with a rotation of sportswriters and ex-athletes including Stephen A. Smith, Rob Parker, Jon Ritchie, Lomas Brown, Hugh Douglas, Kordell Stewart, Greg Anthony, Jalen Rose, Marcellus Wiley, Shaun King, and 2 Live Stews (Ryan and Doug Stewart). Terrell Suggs, Donovan McNabb, Chad Ochocinco, Donnie Wahlberg, and rappers Lil Wayne, Bow Wow, Wale have also taken on Bayless. Recently, Bayless has been tagged with the nickname "Skip Tebow" by many of his guests based on his unrelenting support of New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow. Bayless openly embraces the nickname.

Bayless is a regular twitter user, and he tweets on the topics and points he made on the ESPN First Take show. He also posts the Podcast from the show regularly from his twitter account.

Bayless has a "I Heart @RealSkipBayless" shirt. This shirt is given to the fans of the show, or if someone who comes to the show and loses a bet to Bayless. The person who loses the bet has to appear on the show and wear the shirt. So far, the shirt is undefeated.

Bayless lists his top five NBA players as of June 15, 2011: Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, and Carmelo Anthony.^[5]

Cultural references[link]

Bayless, along with Woody Paige and Jay Crawford, appeared in a cameo role in the film Rocky Balboa. The three are seen on their First and 10 segment discussing a possible fight between a retired Balboa and current heavyweight champion Mason Dixon. Bayless opines that Balboa "was completely overrated" and mocks his age.

He appears in the ESPN 30 for 30 film Pony Excess, the story about the Southern Methodist University football scandal, covering the Mustangs while writing for both Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Times Herald.